Canadian agencies announced on Nov. 24 that milestones in development of the Near Surface Disposal Facility for low-level radioactive waste in Ontario were being pushed back.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is updating its draft environmental impact statement for the planned site following a public comment period that ended on Aug. 16, according to a notice from Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency.
The public input process, in which more than 200 separate comments were submitted, already led CNL to restrict the type of waste that would be interred in the facility to low-level radioactive material. Under previous plans, about 1 percent of the waste in storage would have been intermediate-level waste.
“This decision was based, in part, on public remarks and federal technical submissions received through formal comments on the draft EIS,” Canadian Nuclear Laboratories said in a release. “CNL also received requests for additional technical information from the CNSC. In order to respond, and to provide adequate time for third-party review, CNL has determined that the schedule for final EIS submittal and the licensing hearing will need to be amended.”
While CNL did not offer details on the timing, the Environmental Assessment Agency noted that the revised environmental impact statement had been anticipated in January 2018, followed by a public hearing on licensing the facility next July. An updated schedule has not yet been readied.
There was no immediate word on whether the rescheduling would impact the overall timeline for the facility. Construction has been scheduled to begin in 2018.
The engineered containment mound is due to open in 2020 at the Chalk River Laboratories to hold up to 1 million cubic meters of waste now in storage, or anticipated to be produced by, the nuclear research facility.
